


I See You

by AllyC



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M, Post-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-21
Updated: 2014-11-21
Packaged: 2018-02-26 11:23:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2650247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllyC/pseuds/AllyC
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He missed Rin. It wasn’t something he liked to admit.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I See You

**Author's Note:**

> Written for RinHaru Week 2014. Prompt - Distance (what sort of sight are you seeing now?)

There was no expanse of ocean here. Tokyo Bay was nothing like the familiar beaches of Iwatobi. It was confined, dirty, and crowded. He’d even accompanied Makoto to Odaiba once and being on an island in the midst of the water didn’t satiate the gnawing feeling in his chest.

A muted sigh slipped from his lips and Haruka lifted a hand to flick his bobbing dolphin toy on the nose. The bath wasn’t any better a substitute for the scenery he longed for, but it was comforting and familiar. He lowered himself further into the warm water and focused his eyes on his plastic company. For a moment he wondered if Rin’s matching toy was still in the genkan of his home where Gou had placed it. Shutting his eyes, frustration at his thoughts welling up, he sank down to fully submerge himself in the warmth of the water.

He missed Rin. It wasn’t something he liked to admit. The strange yet familiar ache reminded him of childhood and that was a dangerous path to begin walking. It wouldn’t end the same this time. Haruka didn’t need to pay any mind to the nagging voice in his head that whispered what ifs. _What if it all happened again? What if this time there was no saving grace? What if Rin never came back at all?_

Burning started in his chest and crept further up and up his throat until he wasn’t able to hold it in any longer. His held breath rushed forth and Haruka pushed his head back above the water. Gasping in cool air he let his head loll back against the porcelain of the tub. There was a thin crack in the plaster of the ceiling and he traced the path it made to the wall with his eyes. 

What was Rin seeing right now? The time difference between Tokyo and Sydney wasn’t that great. It seemed strange to Haruka that it could take nearly half a day on a plane to reach a place only two hours ahead of them. Perhaps Rin was already asleep. That was the responsible sort of thing Rin kept to for his training. Early to bed, early to rise and start the day off with a long jog.

The thought of sleep spurred Haruka to rise from the tub. He had gotten better about being on time for things since he’d come to Tokyo. No longer having Makoto there in the mornings to drag him from home on time had made him quickly learn better time management. It had been a struggle at first, but his coach’s irritation had fueled him on. At first he’d gotten annoyed and pondered taking the next flight back to Tottori. Then a voice in his mind had rung with challenge asking if he’d given up so easily.

 _Are you going to let me beat you that easily?_ That slight cockiness layered with friendship and something that Haruka had only ever known to spark between Rin and him when they locked eyes at the starting blocks echoed within him. 

Communication had begun to fizzle out over the months. It was to be expected, really. Training got more difficult and finding spare time became next to impossible. He was just as guilty as Rin was of not picking up the phone to call or email. Probably more guilty, but he had relied on Rin to be more proactive. Lips pursed as Haruka took the short walk to his living room/bedroom to get his futon out. 

He was waiting on letters again. Fingers gripped tighter to the fabric of his bedding as he drug it out onto the floor. What would have happened if he had been more proactive as a child?

What would happen if he was more proactive now?

Eyes slunk to his laptop, closed and resting against the far wall of the room. Hesitation held him in place for a moment before he shook his head at himself gently and went to pick up the rarely used electronic. He’d never been much of a computer person, but being away from home and the vastness of some of the things he was required to study in college made using his laptop more necessary than it had been. 

Soft whirring filled the quiet of his apartment as the computer came to life with flashes of color and the odd beep and noise here and there of programs booting on launch. His phone was usually the default for checking his email, normally messages from Nagisa or Rei, or checking texts and calls from Makoto when they were scheduled to meet up. If he was going to be writing anything of length though, and he wasn’t even sure if he would be, the laptop would be easier.

An unfamiliar sound pinged from the laptop and a frown tugged at his mouth as a program he didn’t immediately recognize flashed at the bottom. The white arrow of his cursor held over it for a moment before he clicked. What appeared was a surprise he hadn’t expected. An incoming Skype call from _Rin Matsuoka_. The reverse of his names standing out wrong to Haruka for a moment before he accepted the video chat. 

His screen filled with a grinning face and suddenly that feeling that had been gnawing at his chest more and more as the days passed began to dissipate. “Rin,” he breathed out.

“You look like you just saw a waterfall or something.” The voice that came across the speakers was a little off, but it was still _Rin_. All those inclinations and vocal patterns that he could hear in the back of his mind, but never quite right, floated to his ears. “You miss me that much?” A cocky smirk tugged across that face two and twelve hours away, trying to hide the genuineness of the question.

But Haruka could see through it with ease. “Yes.” The reply was the simple truth and he watched with vague amusement at the array of emotions that passed over Rin’s face. Shock, disbelief, and joy before settling on something maudlin. For a moment he wanted to quip about Rin’s tendency to let his emotions overflow too much, but stopped as Rin beat him to speaking.

“Yea. Me too,” came the laughing reply. He watched as the teary expression cleared into that gentle smile he’d seen so many times. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”


End file.
